


String of Fate

by lenasmagic (dimensionhoppingrose)



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Other, SO, Some Fluff, episode cap, here we are, listen I have some issues with how Webby and Lena were handled, post 3x22 The Last Adventure, series finale spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 01:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30064236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/lenasmagic
Summary: -FINALE SPOILERS-Webby hopped up to settle next to her. “I–”“Pink–”They spoke at the same time, then stopped, staring at each other. “You go first,” Lena said quickly, waving her hand. Webby gave her a small, uncertain smile.“I’m sorry I got mad at you earlier. Iknowhow important it is for you to feel like you belong, and June cutting the string was… not great.”“Yeah. I still overreacted.”“Well… you weren’t wrong about them being kinda evil. I mean, it’s not their fault, they were–”“Just like me.”
Relationships: Bentina Beakley & Lena (Disney: DuckTales), Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Violet Sabrewing, Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Webby Vanderquack, Lena (Disney: DuckTales)/Webby Vanderquack, Violet Sabrewing & Webby Vanderquack
Comments: 8
Kudos: 153





	String of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> I don't like that Webby's and Lena's last interaction was sad. They couldn't have at least had a hug or something?
> 
> (also yeah we're ignoring the sisters comment. That was just. Ugh)

Webby’s little library had never been so full.

Gos was retelling the story of their epic arrival, complete with sound effects. “And then the plane was like _boom_ and we were all like _aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh_ , and–” to an audience of May, June, and Huey.

Dewey was babbling about his next episode of Dewey-Dewnite to Louie. “And then _twist reveal_! Webby is _not_ , in fact, the guest _stars_ tonight are May and June, her clones-slash-sisters! Wait, if Webby is our… cousin? Cousin twice removed? How does that even work? Anyway, are May and June related to us too?”

Boyd was half-listening to the conversation as he updated his own version of the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook. And Webby was standing at her board, fixing a few strings and rearranging photos. She paused when she got to the photo of her “parents,” carefully taking it down and looking at it. Where had Beakley gotten this, she wondered. Was it too soon to ask? She tucked it away for later, then went back to work – and paused when she saw the cut string between her and Lena. She stared at that for a long time before looking around.

Amidst all the chaos and yelling, the Sabrewing sisters had found a quiet corner. Lena was out cold, head resting in Violet’s lap, while Violet read a book, completely undisturbed by the world around her. Webby watched them for a moment, then looked at her bracelet, then jumped off her stool, crossing the room. Violet didn’t look up as she approached, but her greeting was confident.

“Hello, Webbigail.”

“Hey.” Webby sat down, rubbing the back of her head. “Is she…?”

“Magic burnout. I don’t think she was quite prepared for how much she ended up doing today.”

“Right.” Webby shifted uncomfortably. “Listen, I’m–”

“An apology isn’t necessary.” Webby stopped, mouth hanging open. “We understand that you were in the middle of a very stressful situation, and Lena admits she could have handled that whole thing… better. She’s aware of her… possessive tendencies and has been trying to better herself.”

It felt weird, talking about Lena when she was _right there_ , but she obviously had no idea what was going on around her. And Violet still hadn’t looked up from her book. Webby wasn’t always great with social cues, but she recognized indifferent deflection when she saw it.

“But you’re still mad at me.”

Violet finally raised her eyes; Webby was surprised to see a myriad of conflicted emotions in her expression. “We’re your friends, Webbigail. When push comes to shove, we have your back. When you let us.”

And there it was. Webby hunched up, eyes flicking to Lena. Still out. “I just… felt like I had to do this on my own. Especially since Lena was so against getting involved with May and June in the first place.”

“She was worried about you. Worries that turned out to be extremely valid, I might add,” Violet said, putting her book aside. “But wouldn’t it have been better to take in reluctant back up than go on your own?” She had a point. Webby ducked her head further. “I’m not trying to shame you. I understand why you acted the way you did, mostly because Lena has been thick-headed enough to act the same way in the past. But her worst fear is still that she’s going to drive you away somehow. And while you obviously have no obligation to stay, I do ask that you try not to hurt her too much.”

“I won’t.” Webby gave Violet a small, hesitant smile, holding out her hand. “Sisters?”

“Of course.” Violet took her hand, squeezing. “Although I should warn you, I believe my sisterly obligations to Lena take priority, and I know five ways to hide a body.”

“Pffft. I know _ten_.”

\--------------------------------------------

“ _Did you really think you would turn out any different than me?”_

“ _I know a bad influence when I see one.”_

“ _You wee tenebrious traitor.”_

“ _You’re a monster, just like your aunt!”_

Lena shot up with a gasp, eyes flying around. She had apparently been out for _awhile_ – the sky was dark, and everyone was asleep. Or whatever Boyd did to simulate sleep. At some point, she had been moved from Violet’s lap to a blanket nest beside her sister. Everyone was sort of Tetrised around the floor, with Webby’s head next to where hers had been, with May and June beside her. Dewey was sleeping at an awkward angle, Louie’s legs resting on his chest, Huey sleeping beside their heads with his JWG resting on his face. Gos was on Dewey’s other side, occasionally kicking his head, and Boyd beside her. Lena sighed, scrubbing her eyes, gaze landing on the moonlit board. The string between her and Webby was still cut. She tried not to think too much about that.

Instead she stumbled up. She was _thirsty_. Throat dry, hurting thirsty. She needed water _yesterday_.

It took a bit of tip-toeing to get through the throng of children, but finally she was out of the library and stumbling down the hall, yawning. Too much magic. She was never using magic again.

The kitchen light was on, which probably should have been a surprise. But Lena knew from experience that at least half the people in this mansion had some form of insomnia. Tonight it was Beakley, cleaning the kitchen sink with far more care than what was necessary.

“Top o’ the mornin’, Mrs. B,” Lena announced herself before walking into the kitchen, because that was another thing she had learned – don’t surprise the spies with freaky reflexes. Beakley looked up, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you expanding into Irish stereotypes now?”

“Gotta keep my game fresh.”

She walked to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and draining the entire thing in one sip, then grabbing a second and going to slump at the kitchen island, chin resting on the smooth marble. “Disappointing Webby Club?” she asked after a moment. Beakley chuckled dryly.

“You too?”

“Oh yeah. Full on magic temper tantrum, made June cry. I feel _less_ bad because it was right before they stole the missing mysteries artifacts, but still.”

Beakley put a teapot on the stove, then returned to cleaning the already immaculate kitchen. “She’s far too forgiving. I assure you, you have nothing to worry about.”

“That’s not even the half of it.” Lena raised her head, sighing. “Do you remember the tunnels? When you called me a bad influence?”

Beakley, to her credit, didn’t flinch away from the old words. “I didn’t have the full story at the time. And you _are_ a bad influence sometimes.” That last part was added with a gentle smile. “But you care about Webby. That’s undeniable.”

“That might be the _problem_ ,” Lena muttered, tugging at her bracelet. “The night she and Vi brought me back from the Shadow Realm, I… I was terrible. I was so _mad_ at Violet. I didn’t want Webby to replace me. She was the only person who cared about me, and if she just forgot I existed… I was scared. And jealous. And full of Aunt Magica’s stupid shadow magic which just made everything ten times worse. And I thought I was over it, but seeing Webby with June and May…” She buried her face in her hands, sighing. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve changed at all or if I’m really just… just Magica at heart.”

The tea pot whistled. Beakley set it aside, then leaned on the kitchen island so she would be eye to eye with Lena when the teen looked up. “Lena, if I thought you were anything at all like Magica, do you think I would let you in this house? Let alone _anywhere_ near Webby?” Lena peeked between her fingers, uncertain. “You care. Maybe a little too much. That’s your weakness. _Our_ weakness. I tried to keep Webby away from the world, tried to keep her safe, keep her close. And it all backfired. You wanted to keep Webby to yourself because she was your first friend, the first person who really cared about you. It’s not _healthy_ , any more than what I did was _right_ , but caring about someone doesn’t lend itself to the best logic.”

“I don’t _want_ to cut her off from anyone else,” Lena said in a small voice.

“I know you don’t. And you’ve more than proven that you care about her.”

“Then why do I keep hurting her?”

Beakley sighed, smiling sadly. “Because caring about someone is tricky, and you never know when you’re crossing a line until it’s too late.”

She made herself some tea, and some hot cocoa for Lena, leaving it on the counter in front of her. “Try not to stay up too late, Lena. Tomorrow is another day, and who knows what it’ll bring.”

“More clones?” Lena guessed dryly. Beakley chuckled before leaving, letting Lena be alone to stew in her thoughts. Alone time never lasted long in the McDuck house, though.

“Lena?”

She looked up from her hot chocolate, blinking in surprise. “Hey, Pink. What’re you doing up? It’s late.”

“I woke up and you were gone.” Her voice was small; Lena immediately felt like a jerk. Couldn’t she have left a note or something?

“Sorry, I slept like, the entire rest of the day so I wasn’t tired when I woke up and I needed a drink and…” Lena waved a hand. “Here I am.”

Webby hopped up to settle next to her. “I–”

“Pink–”

They spoke at the same time, then stopped, staring at each other. “You go first,” Lena said quickly, waving her hand. Webby gave her a small, uncertain smile.

“I’m sorry I got mad at you earlier. I _know_ how important it is for you to feel like you belong, and June cutting the string was… not great.”

“Yeah. I still overreacted.”

“Well… you weren’t wrong about them being kinda evil. I mean, it’s not their fault, they were–”

“Just like me.” Lena folded her arms on the counter and rested her chin in her arms. “They were created by someone evil to infiltrate the mansion and steal something. They just didn’t have to wait for a stupid eclipse to get anything done.”

“And they’re good.” Webby rested a hand on Lena’s arm. “Just like you.”

In retrospect, the tears had obviously been fake, an excuse to run away, but Lena _still_ felt bad about throwing June into a bookshelf.

“You still haven’t fixed my string on the board.” The words weren’t bitter. Just sad. Webby stared at the counter for a long moment.

“I know. That’s not because I’m mad at you or anything, though.” Lena raised an eyebrow, waiting for Webby to elaborate. “You… You’re my family, obviously. I care about you. But not… not like I care about the boys, or Violet, or… anyone else, really. And I wanted to make sure we’re okay before, you know, I assume anything.”

Lena smiled slightly, sitting up and sliding an arm around Webby’s shoulders and tugging her into a tight hug.

“Yeah, Pink. We’re good. I’m whatever you need to be. Okay?”

Webby brightened, turning to throw her arms around Lena and hugging her tight. “Thanks, Lena.”

Lena smiled, something in her relaxing as reality asserted itself. She and Webby were okay. She’d keep working on the jealousy thing. And maybe someday she’d actually deserve the love Webby gave her.

Someday.

She sent Webby back up to bed, saying she wasn’t tired yet, and Webby was clearly exhausted (she’d had a long day). Lena stayed up for a bit longer, watching the sun begin to rise, before finally heading back upstairs – Violet would be annoyed if she woke up and Lena was gone. Weird protective sibling thing. She passed Scrooge as he was on his way down, giving him a wave, then let herself into Webby’s library.

The room was dimly lit by peeks of sunlight, revealing that everyone was still asleep. Lena carefully crept back to the spot she had vacated, her eyes drifting to Webby’s board.

And she stopped, smiling slightly, when she saw that the orange signifying other family members had been replaced with red.

“Please tell me you two talked,” Violet mumbled sleepily as Lena laid back down.

“ _Yes_ , Vi. We talked.”

“Thank God. I don’t think I could stand you two not talking. Or worse, being _awkward_.”

“Yeah. That would be the most terrible thing to happen.”

“Absolutely.”


End file.
